Kimberly Kincaid’s Novellas Make Dangerous Delicious

I first heard Kimberly Kincaid’s name when we were both 2011 Golden Heart nominees, and more recently when she released the first two novellas in her Line series. When I mentioned to my blogmates that I’d like to invite Kimberly to K&T, Sharon Wray told me she adores Kimberly. And after reading Kimberly’s novellas, I adore her too.

These novellas remind me of the most delicious artisan chocolates. They are beautifully crafted, packed with unique flavors, and intensely satisfying. And unlike those artisan chocolates I love, these are guilt-free treats! Read one Kimberly Kincaid novella and you’re going to want to gobble up—um, read the rest of them. Kimberly’s heroines are foodies—a personal chef and a chef/owner of a local diner—and her heroes are cops. A suspense thread originating in LOVE ON THE LINE drives the action in her newest novella DRAWING THE LINE.

When Detective Jason Morgan is tasked with keeping a local restaurant owner safe as part of a make-or-break case, he rises to the challenge. The job is his first priority, and he owes it to the memory of his father, a detective killed in the line of duty, to do it at any cost. But Jason never expected Serenity Gallagher to be so beautiful, so serious…or so tough to protect.

Serenity has moved from place to place at the whim of her capricious mother all her life. The last thing she wants is to leave the diner she finally calls home, even if it means being stuck with a sexy blue-eyed detective. But she’s the only witness to a horrible crime, and the man behind it wants her very, very dead. Going into protective custody means survival, no matter how much Serenity hates hiding.

As Jason and Serenity bide their time together, they are shocked to discover they have much more in common than the surface reveals. But keeping her safe is Jason’s number one priority, no matter how much he’s drawn in by the woman beneath the witness, and Serenity’s past makes it difficult to trust. As the stakes get higher and the spark burns hotter, can Jason and Serenity draw the line?

I love Kimberly’s novellas so much that I’m giving away Kindle e-books of DRAWING THE LINE to three commenters. But first let’s pick Kimberly’s talented and highly imaginative brain.

Writing and cooking…

For me, they honestly go hand in hand. I was raised in a family where food is definitely love, and we cook to show affection and caring. This is something I try to translate into each of my books, albeit in different ways. So whether my characters are cooking to soothe themselves through rough emotions (Serenity does this in DRAWING THE LINE) or to nurture the ones they care for (Violet, in LOVE ON THE LINE), there’s always a little food to go with the love in my books!

The first time I cooked…

My mom has always had an open-kitchen policy, so I was young! But the first thing I remember ever cooking pretty much on my own was Hamburger Helper. I think I was maybe eleven. Now we make our own version of cheeseburger macaroni at my house…just without the box 🙂

The best dinner party ever…

Has good friends, good food, and good spirits! It can be a lobster boil on the beach or a black tie affair. Dinner parties don’t need to be fancy to sustain people. Some of the best dinner parties I’ve ever had have been on a picnic blanket with my kids. For me, it’s about the gathering, and the simple celebration of whatever food you’ve got. Everything else is extra.

Opening Lines: “Having spent half her life in one restaurant or another, Serenity Gallagher had seen just about everything a professional kitchen had to offer. Except for a body on the floor. That was definitely new.”

Recipes…

Making up your own recipes is a little daunting at first, I admit. But here’s the crux of it: Nothing’s written in stone. I use some age-old recipes that have been handed down to me, I use new recipes that I find online and in books, and I make things up as I go. Sometimes I combine one or all of these methods. Cooking is about the journey. Sometimes, we get lost! But it’s okay to start over when that happens. It’s what the pizza guy is for!

In my spare time…

I’m laughing, because I don’t think I have any. But… in my spare time, I read (of course), cook (you know it was coming), take my kids to the library, watch action movies with my husband, study martial arts and shop for shoes. Not necessarily in that order.

The next book I write…

I’ve got two in the works right now (one is getting “The End” today!) The third “Line” novella, OUTSIDE THE LINES, which features Dr. Blake Fisher, the sexy-serious ER doc who has appeared in the other two “Line” novellas, and a fourth novel to go with my Kensington PINE MOUNTAIN series which debuts with a full length novel TURN UP THE HEAT in March. After that, I’m looking at a few other projects. There may or may not be firefighters on the horizon. I plead the fifth 🙂

Kimberly Kincaid writes contemporary romance that splits the difference between sexy and sweet. When she’s not sitting cross-legged in an ancient desk chair known as “The Pleather Bomber”, she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book. Kimberly is a 2011 RWA Golden Heart® finalist who lives (and writes!) by the mantra that food is love. Visit her any time at www.kimberlykincaid.com or come check her out on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kimberly.kincaid1) and Twitter (@kimberlykincaid).

Tell us about your best dinner party ever for a chance to win Kimberly Kincaid’s novella DRAWING THE LINE! Three winners will be announced on Friday! Plus the three winners of Manda Collin’s novella THE PERKS OF BEING A BEAUTY!

Welcome, Kimberly! We’re so delighted to have you here with us today! Like Maureen, I was thinking that the best dinner party ever was my daughter’s graduation last month. It was a very festive time with lots of dinner celebrations that weekend, but my favorite dinner was the night we arrived in town. We went out for burgers at Bull City Burger & Brewery. The place was loud and lively, the food was local, and our spirits were high. A perfect family celebration!

(Girls: if you want to perk up your Fridays, go to her FB page…she and her friends post swoon-worthy hottie pics. No joke, have the smelling salts ready.)

Bought DRAWING THE LINE and LOVED IT!!! I also won LOVE ON THE LINE from Diane Gaston, but haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

Hmmm…Best dinner party. I hosted my family for Thanksgiving in 2009. If it had been my in-laws I would never have done this, but since it was my family I gave every member 1 or 2 dishes to make (yes, even my football-watching brothers.) Instead of being a disastrous “too-many-cooks”, it was a poignant and memorable day. We all chatted and laughed in the kitchen as a family, everyone felt pride in their part of the dinner and best of all-it was completely stress-free for me! (Because of course I’d assigned myself as Supreme-commanding supervisor.)

And yes, I do try to bring the pretty on Fridays. All are welcome to add me on Facebook and play along! I posted a picture of who I dreamcast as Jason Morgan, the hero from Drawing The Line, just last week. Good times!

I love that everyone had a hand in your dinner party. We are notorious for our potlucks here, and I think they’re some of the best food celebrations out there. Dying to know what your brothers brought, though!

My best dinner party ever was supposed to be a simple sandwich;ect. type thing and for some reason I thought Thanksgiving dinner was a good thing. Turkey, dressing and all landed on the table and I was so tired of cooking that I ended up sitting and watching everyone else enjoy my labors. It was great to see the happy smile on my friends’ faces. Afterwards, we got out the guitar and laughed as we pretended to be the next Usher.

I have hosted thanksgiving at my house and that is alo t of work. Trying to get all the foods done at the same time. It was fun and the food was great. Thanks for the chance to win. Want to read Drawing the Line. Loved Love on the Line. Great book.

Hi Kimberly! So great to have you here! You know I don’t know that I have a fun dinner party story! Does that make me a total bore? There is a family story about the time post-Thanksgiving dinner when my great-grandfather fell asleep listening to an old Western and he, being a former telegraph operator for the Navy, overheard someone on the movie sending a message in Morse Code, and leapt out of his chair yelling that the Indians were attacking. But that’s not MY story, per se.

Welcome Kimberly, a FBU Rebel sister! I have your novellas on my Kindle and can’t wait for a free moment to savor them!!

Best dinner party… well, for years my family of 4 lived in an 800-sf cabin. We have lots of family in the area, and our house was too small to host big family dinners. But we did have a large covered front porch, so one year we decided it was our turn to host Christmas dinner anyway (I LOVE to cook). So my kids and I spent a month prepping our front porch to become a dining room.

We cut out snowflakes and spray painted them in silver and gold on canvas painter’s drop cloths and hung those around the porch. Then we wrapped the porch in plastic to hold in the heat and keep out the rain (yes, our porch looked like it was wrapped in a giant condom from the outside). I made a chandelier with tiny white lights, bead garlands, silver glitter, spray paint, coat hangers, and a metal item I picked up at a thrift store. It came out great. We lit candles and hung holiday lights all around.

Inside the porch was magical – sparkly snow flakes, glittering lights, candles. It snowed that first Christmas day but between the space heaters and 27 guests around one massive table we were warm.

There was something really wonderful about the transformation of the space and it ended up becoming an annual tradition, sometimes Thanksgiving, sometimes Christmas. I really miss the ambiance of those dinners now that we’ve moved. It makes a normal, inside the house, dining room boring. 🙂

What a great story! I do love how magical those more impromptu things can be. In one of my Pine Mountain books, the hero makes the heroine (she is the chef) a very simple classic, but it becomes really special to her because of the way they share it together, kind of cozy and no-nonsense and very personal.

Welcome to K&T, Kimberly! I admit to being an addict of your Friday FB eye candy! Yum! I’ve never read a foodie romance before. Or at least I don’t think so. Does that mean the plot focuses on food or is there a broader definition?

Thanks for having me! For me, foodie romance is any story where food is an element. The plot doesn’t have to focus on food (in Drawing The Line, it doesn’t, but in Love On The Line, the first novella, it does– the heroine is hired as a personal chef and must feed the hero). But in both, the food plays a thematic role. It defines the characters (in this case, Serenity) and plays a thematic role (brings them together because they are stuck in custody and must cook/eat together). Many of my characters are chefs, but not all! I’ve got restaurant managers, home cooks, caterers, wine buffs…you name it! If it embodies “food is love”, I’m in!

Hey, Kimberly! I enjoyed Drawing the Line. Sometimes a novella is just the right-sized treat. 😉

My favorite dinner parties were as part of a foreign foods group we belonged to when we were stationed in Alabama. Each month a different couple would host dinner and pick a theme/cuisine. Then we’d each bring a dish and share our recipes with everyone. Fun, delicious, and fairly low stress.

My favorite dinner parties are the impromptu family ones: my husband makes it home from work, we’ve each got a glass of wine, my kids are happy and laughing, and we are telling stories and laughing like nobody’s business…

I am really looking forward to a dinner party this weekend though: hosting fellow bloggers and critique partners [The Violet Femmes!] for a pot-luck party of six!

I’m curious about how your critique group came up with The Violet Femmes. Sounds like there should be a good story behind it. The pot-luck party sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for stopping by, Jenna!

Hi Jenna! I do love the CP get-together– in fact, I just had one a few weeks ago with my “girls” Avery Flynn and Robin Covington. We brought all of our kids to Avery’s house, I made a giant lasagna, we also had salad and, um, okay, maybe a few bottles of wine 🙂 And we talked books and marketing and life while the kids played. It was fabulous– hope yours is just as fun!

For me, the best dinner parties are those where I don’t have to cook. A potluck at our community pool, when my sister “does” Thanksgiving, at my MIL’s house for Easter.
I’m not that great of a cook and find it really stressful. So anytime someone wants to feed me, I’m there. But I will bring wine and dessert (I like Costco’s Key lime pie)!
I am thrilled to see my GH/FBU Rebel sister with all this acclaim and success. You deserve it!

Thank you Sharon! 🙂 You made me want key lime pie… I think I need to whip one up now! One of my daughters made key lime sugar cookies at a Girl Scout event recently. I think we should perfect that recipe, you and I!

Hi Kim! So glad to see my GH sisters here today. You’ve waited so long for your success, and now it’s coming fast and furious. It couldn’t have happened to a better person or a more talented writer.

One of my most favorite dinners was actually with Sharon, her husband, and her twins. The grown-ups sat on my back porch enjoying the remnants of barbecue while we watched the kids out on the lawn chasing fireflies. To this day her kids call my house the firefly house and I just love it.

It’s funny, sometimes it’s more the people and the memories rather than the food that make meals important.

My kids were just talking about your “Firefly House” today!!! They are desperate to go back and are not shy about figuring out how to bribe you. But I keep telling them that offering Donut to stay with you for the weekend was NOT a good bribe offer. They still don’t understand that, but they’re thinking of something you’ll hopefully like better!

Kimberly, thanks so much for being on the blog today! Although by now I think it’s tomorrow 🙂 Fabulous interview, Krista!

My favorite dinner party: When I was a single mom. One year for my birthday my 11 yr old and my 6 yr old made me dinner. They brought me a menu, put a pillow under my feet, and dressed up like servers (as best they could). They turned the living room into a restaurant. I have no memory of what we actually ate, but I can tell you I will never forget the love.

Kimberly the books sound wonderful, and I’m adding them to my TBR pile!